MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A 17-year-old suspect charged in the fatal shooting of a Memphis police officer has not been charged with first-degree murder because information obtained by the prosecutor’s office shows the officer was killed by friendly fire. , officials said.
In a statement, the Shelby County top prosecutor’s office said the 17-year-old was charged with 13 counts, including attempted first-degree murder and assault on a first responder in the death of the Officer Joseph McKinney on April 12.
McKinney and an 18-year-old man, identified as Jaylen Lobley, were killed in a shooting that occurred while officers were investigating a suspicious vehicle. The suspect, aged 17, was injured and remains hospitalized. Another Memphis police officer was injured and a third officer was grazed and treated at the scene.
The prosecutor’s office did not identify the 17-year-old suspect in statements released Wednesday about the charges, which carry a maximum of 400 years in prison. The statements did not provide details about the friendly fire aspect of the shooting.
“We have not filed murder charges at this time as current information indicates that Officer McKinney was killed by friendly fire,” one of the statements said. “Although current information indicates friendly fire, we believe the 17-year-old’s wrongful actions are still the true cause of Officer McKinney’s death.”
The Memphis Police Department on Thursday referred questions to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the shooting.
“We continue to mourn the death of Officer Joseph McKinney as we learn this new information,” Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said in a statement.
The TBI declined to comment on the prosecutor’s statements regarding friendly fire.
Lobley was arrested last month in a stolen vehicle with an illegally modified semi-automatic weapon that converted it into what Davis described as a “fully automatic machine gun.”
District Attorney Steve Mulroy said a Shelby County judicial commissioner made the decision to release Lobley on his own recognizance — with conditions including reporting and curfew — and had him made despite prosecutors’ strong arguments against the move, citing the danger the defendant posed to the community.
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